Fallout Equestria: Project Rebirth
by ChaosFangX
Summary: Set around the same time as Fallout Equestria and Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons, full summary inside. Rated M for Mature Reasons, reasons being drugs, violence, sex, and language. Pairings are all OC characters besides a couple of pairings involving one of the Mane Six. That's all I have to say here so... yeah. Hope you guys like it.
1. Chapter 1: Escaping Monotony

**And here we are. The REBIRTH of Project Rebirth. I hope you guys like it, cause it's gonna be a little different. That's about all I have to say besides the summary so let's get to it.**

 _200 years after the Great War, things in Equestria have gone a little bizarre. Trees are different, dead, and some are dangerous, the animals have warped and twisted into monstrous versions of themselves, and the once beautiful land of Equestria is now a barren Wasteland. For Artemis Sparkle-Shadow, his new home in Stable 215, a Stable that Stable Tech didn't let known to the public, is even more a wasteland than Equestria itself. Situated in the middle of the Southern Wastes, known as the Badlands 200 years ago, Stable 215 catered to every sentient creature of Equestria. Donkeys worked the fields along side Earth Ponies, Minotaurs, Diamond Dogs, and other creatures, as well as all manner of Changelings in their natural forms. Red Changelings, Blue Changelings, Pink Changelings, the list went on. But above all that, above all of the citizens of the Stables were the Overmare and the Head of Maintenance and Security. This is their story. Their story about how war... no matter how brutal or peaceful, war never changes._

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 **Chapter 1: Escaping the Monotony.**

 **(Memory Orb One)**

Scootaloo wrapped her arms around Artemis' shoulders, her hips grinding into his, her wings flared out behind her even as her head tossed back and her eyes rolled back in their sockets. His teeth, sharp as they were, were gentle in their teasing of her right nipple while his fingers tweaked and teased her left, his own hips grinding up into her, his wings flapping ever so slightly to keep them stable. His gold and silver eyes focused on her head as he made love to her, his love, his wife, his Vice President. Strewn around the room were their clothes and various articles of paperwork that they should be going over instead of enjoying each others company. They'd just finished construction on Stable 112 and were preparing Stables 1-50 for inhabitants in the extreme circumstance that something happens that requires the use of Stables. "Yes... ah... Artemis... I love you... I love how you make me feel..." She said and he smiled up at her, tracing her nipple with his tongue.

 **(End Memory)**

Artemis sighed as the orb was pulled away from his head, his horns in plain view with his hair parted. "Oh come on guys, I liked that one." He said, smirking at his captors. His wings were cuffed to the chair, keeping his arms pinned behind him and his ankles were shackled to the legs of the chair. Grinning as one of the, very poorly, disguised Changelings slammed the chair across the table from him into the wall, leaning across it and shoving a picture in his face. It was a mobile platform with possibly the biggest Mega-Spell anypony had ever seen on it, in the middle of Ponyville. On the picture behind it was the same exact scene, only difference being the platform wasn't there.

"Where is Project Desolation!?" The Changeling disguised as one of Celestia's former guards shouted at him and Artemis turned his gold and silver eyes on him. His left eye wasn't exactly gold, more a bright yellow, but his right eye, due to magic, was bright silver. His hair, though parted at the moment, usually flowed back from his forehead and down in perfect spikes of black and navy blue highlights. The two horns usually hidden by his hair were jet black and tight against his head, far enough forward in the thickest part that headbutting someone would land them with either a split skull or a splitting head ache. A slight beard graced the wolf's chin, as he hadn't had a chance to shave in a couple weeks. Even his hair was a little long. His outfit was one he wouldn't have picked for himself, bright green was not his color, and having the upper part of the jumpsuit hanging off of the bottom, which was belted around his waist, made for a very uncomfortable seat. After a few moments, the changeling's eye twitched and he leaned back a little. Grinning, Artemis got as comfortable as he could.

"I don't know. And it's Operation Last Resort, not Project Desolation. That's the name given to it by the psycho who's looking for me." The young wolf said as calmly as he could but without his Beta Pip Buck, he couldn't use S.A.T.S (Stable Assisted Targeting System) to aim a psychic bolt at this morons brain. He also couldn't tell what time it was. His Pip Buck, along with the rest of his gear, had been confiscated upon his capture.

"You're lying, I know you are. You designed it's movement plan! How could the President of Stable Tech not know where his ultimate weapon is going!?"

"Former President forced into retirement by bombs going off." He said and he Changeling backhanded him. Hard. "Alright, alright. If you want to know what I know, I'll have to start from the beginning. So sit back boys, this is gonna take a while."

 **(Two Years Prior)**

Artemis pulled hard on the wrench he'd latched onto the nut keeping the water pipe from bursting, pulling it tight and true. Standing back and wiping the sweat from his brow, he looked around. All throughout the water main tunnel, the maintenance crew was tightening bolts, straightening pipes, and welding connections. Two Blue Changelings had turned into girders and were holding up a particularly large pipe that a young dragoness was welding to another pipe of the same size. Fire breath tended to come in handy for welding jobs, and the Blue Changelings that could become inanimate objects were really helpful. As soon as the pipe was welded, one of the Changelings changed back into herself, wiped some sweat from her brow and grabbed a wrench to start tightening the bolts on the other end of the pipe she'd just been supporting. As soon as the dragon reached her to help and support the pipe, the other Changeling turned back into himself and went to work in another section. "Hey Chief, we've got a situation in the boiler room." One of the maintenance crew said, walking up to Artemis with a clip board in hand. Artemis took the clip board as the two of them headed in that direction.

"What's the deal Steam?" Artemis said and Steam Well looked up at him.

"Well, for one thing, the boiler still isn't working, so it's a good thing you've got those fire talisman things that warm the bath water. For another, we caught a couple younguns in there being dirty." Steam said and Artemis released a sigh. It was common knowledge in the Stable that the boiler didn't work because it wasn't connected to any water pipes. None that worked anyway. They were working on fixing it, but considering Stable 215 was the last stable built by Stable Tech, there were still some bugs to work out. They'd gotten all the basic furnishings in and installed the boiler before the door was slammed shut behind them and several hundred others. The bombs had fallen and they'd been locked in by the Stables security protocols. Today was the day they'd get the boiler working. Today was also the day that Artemis had been waiting for. He'd grown tired of the every day, day to day grind of keeping the Stable running. He was over 200 years old, though he didn't look it or feel it, but he felt he'd run his course. Even Steam Well at 35 could practically work circles around the prince. No one knew his plans, no one needed to know or it'd cause a panic.

Reaching the boiler room was easy after getting out of the construction area and away from the pipes that were being welded and connected to the walls. Pushing open the door, Artemis saw two of the security guards sitting on raised ledges at the edges of the room and two young ones sitting cross legged in the middle of it. Blue Belle and Golden Rich had been sweet hearts since they were younger than they were at the present moment. Their families had once been the richest families in Ponyville, but in the Stable, you were only as rich as the skills you brought to the table. As a prospective farmer, Blue Belle could bring food and cooking expertise while Golden Rich would soon begin training to work in Maintenance. A good pair, but still too young to be getting in the way of the maintenance crew while they worked on the boiler system. Sighing again, Artemis gestured to the two of them to follow him and, exchanging worried looks with each other, the two stood and followed him out of the Maintenance level and up the stairs.

"You guys know you're not supposed to be down there. I'm going to have to report you to the Head of Medical to get you checked out and then I have to file a report about you two sneaking down there, and _then_ I have to take you back to your parents. On top of trying to get the boiler working." He said as they walked down the hall on the main floor of the Stable.

"We're sorry Artemis... we just never get a chance to be away from our families." Blue Belle said, her voice lilting and serene. She wanted to be a singer, and she had the voice for it, but she also wanted to keep up the family business. Even her cutie mark was a farming tool in the shape of a musical note. Golden Rich's cutie mark was a golden wrench, and he was one of the lucky ones. Some members of Maintenance had toilets for cutie marks. Though each toilet is different, they're all still toilets.

"I know you're sorry. Come on, into medical." He said as he pressed his thumb to the locking mechanism on the door to medical. No one but the head of the department would be in at the moment. As the door swung open, Artemis smelled something off and pushed the two teenagers behind him. Grabbing his walkie talkie, he pressed a button on the side. "Artemis to Security, send a team to Medical. I've got two teens that need escorting home." He said before clipping it to his belt again. "Stay put." He waved over his shoulder and heard the two of them press their backs to the wall opposite the door. Slipping into the room, he turned on his Pip Buck lamp and looked around, swinging it from side to side. Illuminating over turned tables and a chair that was still spinning in the back corner, Artemis reached for the pistol strapped to his belt. "Sugar Snap, are you in here? It's Artemis." He said as he unfastened the clip on his pistol holster. Hearing the other members of the security team arrive, two of them herding the teens away, he gestured them in and signaled them to turn on their Pip Buck lamps. As five other lights lit the room, it became more and more clear what happened. Staining the back wall was a splash of fresh blood, on the floor next to that wall was a scalpel that had clearly been used like a knife. Swinging his Pip Buck lamp to the corner, he released a sigh of relief to see Sugar Snap, the head of medical, cowering in the corner, clutching her shoulder. "Easy Sugar, it's ok." He said as he crossed to her slowly. As soon as he reached her, she jumped into his arms, cowering, her eyes locked on the other corner. Looking over, Artemis jumped and pressed his own back to the corner she'd just been hiding in. Slashed open from throat to crotch was a Red Changeling, but there was something different about him.

Moving his Pip Buck lamp over the Changelings body, Artemis saw what was wrong. The teeth were far too long and the eyes had lost their whites. They were pure red, like this particular Changeling was just a larva, only fully grown with massive teeth. One of the security officers radioed up to the Overmare's office and within minutes there was a disposal team, the Overmare, and the Red Changeling queen. As a couple other members of Medical tended to Sugar Snap, Artemis walked over to his sister and the queen. "Laval, what is that?" Melody asked as he approached and Laval, the Red Changeling queen, shrugged.

"I can honestly say I am unsure. All of my Changelings have adapted to life here in the Stable, as I have, but the only Changelings that should have eyes like those are larva or..." She trailed off there and Artemis clasped her on the shoulder.

"Or what? Don't leave anything out Laval." He said and she nodded.

"The only other kind of Changeling that would have eyes like that would have come from outside. But even in the hive chambers this Stable was built into, the walls separating the interior from the outside world are several layers thick. For something to have gotten through them would have taken either Stable Tec tools or years of effort that would have been noticed." She said as two other queens arrived. Chrysalis, one that Artemis still didn't trust entirely, and her baby sister Coco. Coco was the queen of the Pink Changelings and there for more stable as they could generate their own love, while Chrysalis was the queen of the Green Changelings and needed to gather love from others.

"That's impossible. There is nothing outside but destruction and death." Chrysalis said and Artemis looked over at her. "That's all that could be left after those monstrosities were set off."

"Mega-Spells were an Equestrian design that was stolen by the enemy. Devastating in their power, there's still one thing more powerful out there, isn't there Artemis?" Coco asked him, looking at him innocently. As the other three sets of eyes turned on him, he glared at the youngest queen. She had a knack for ferreting out information. Seeing his glare, her eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth. "Oops. Sorry... I mean... Uh... wouldn't there be? Wouldn't Stable Tec know about it if there was?"

"They would have, two hundred years ago. If there was something more powerful out there, it's either lost or already went off." Artemis said and the two other queens and his sister nodded in thought. Artemis shot a psychic bolt at Coco, telling her he wanted to see her in his office in security later, and she frowned and nodded subtly.

"Either way, we need to figure his out before something else happens or someone else gets hurt."

"I'm leaving the Stable." Artemis said, half way through his sister's announcement and the four of them turned to him.

"Wait, what?" Laval asked and the other two Changelings stared at him as if he'd grown another head.

"Today. I'm leaving the Stable today as soon as the boiler room is up and running. Which, if my calculations are correct, should be any time between one hour from now and one and a half hours from now." Melody started towards him, her eyes wide. "The Maintenance crews know to switch off with someone else before taking a break. I figure if something is getting in from outside, it's high time someone went out to see if there's a breach in the layer of this Stable protecting us from radiation."

"That's the problem Artemis... Radiation... if the outside is as irradiated as the Stable seems to say it is, going out there is suicide." Melody said and he let his right arm flash with power, the spell he'd been using to conceal it shattering. She let out a gasp as the three Changeling queens back pedaled a little. His entire right arm was made of solid gold, magic holding it together at the joints. As he flexed the arm, more gold seemed to materialize out of thin air to keep it together and relaxing his arm caused the gold to disappear. In spots along the arm, marks could be seen in shapes and designs that looked vaguely like writing.

"That's..."

"My father's gauntlet, the Realm Gauntlet. When he died, or disappeared, or whatever, the Gauntlet stayed behind and when I found it, I put it on. And I've been practicing a new spell. Radiation Purification. I'm the only one capable of surviving out there." He said and Melody sighed.

"If you're sure Artemis... just... at least take enough gear and supplies with you to survive until you come back." She said and he sighed in turn.

"I'm not coming back Mel. I can't do this anymore. We're over two hundred years old, Chrysalis you and your sisters are older still. It's time to retire and leave things to the newest generation. I figure I can go out there, find a place to live, and spend the rest of my days watching the sun filter through the radiated sky until whatever happens." She sighed and hugged her brother tight, kissing his cheek.

"Alright. Be safe. I'll... I'll come find you if something happens and we can't fix it. You know I will so don't argue." She said and he nodded, heading towards the security hall. Coco followed him, knowing she needed to talk to him before he left. As he entered the Security hall, he swung a left and headed straight for the armory.

"Ok. I know I almost screwed up. You didn't think you could keep it secret forever did you? Operation Last Resort? What's it for?" She asked as he packed up a shot gun and some spare ammo and armor. Extra ammo for his pistol went into the bag and he walked into his office with it. In the corner was a small refrigerator with plenty of purified snacks and drinks, but what caught Coco's eye was the case he went too. Sitting at the back of the room, behind the desk, was a glass case big enough to hold twelve guns. Inside it was a single gun, but enough ammo to make the weapon a one weapon armory.

"Operation Last Resort is exactly that. A last resort for all of Equestria. When I put on the Gauntlet, I saw several different futures. One of them was shown to me in a spell long before I used the Gauntlet. Equestria, dead, desolate, and uninhabitable. All of Eques like that. I couldn't sit back and let that happen, so in secret, separate from Stable Tec, I built something. Mega-Spells are big, Balefire Bombs are deadly. I used my magic to contain the power of seven Balefire Bombs and three Mega-Spells into one bomb. Enough power to destroy the entire planet. If Equestria can't be saved by one of the futures I saw, Operation Last Resort goes off. Bye bye Eques." He said as he walked over to the case. "And this... this is the key to the whole damn thing." He said as he typed in a code that she memorized for later. As the case swung open, she gasped. The gun inside was the most beautiful piece of artwork she'd ever seen. Pure silver, the weapon looked to be made from the hands of Celestia and Luna themselves, carved for the gods. Picking it up as though it was fragile, Artemis replaced the pistol at his belt with the weapon and it changed. The barrel of it thickened and lengthened, getting thicker and wider and becoming strong enough to handle firing a weapon. The cylinder to hold the rounds changed into a chamber mass and each round in the case changed into clips with the bullets sliding into place. Picking up the clips, Artemis put two of them in his pockets and the rest in the bag.

Deciding to help him, Coco walked over and unpacked his fridge, putting the food and drink in another bag. "That gun is beautiful. What's it called?" She asked and he looked over at her.

"Harbinger. Three of them exist in the world. One given to me, one to Scootaloo, and one to my dad. Hopefully the one my dad had was destroyed when whatever happened to him happened. Scootaloo's is out there somewhere, and this is the only weapon strong enough to destroy it. If it gets near enough to Operation Last Resort, it goes off early." He sighed as he pulled on his long coat. Strapping the first bag over his shoulder, he pulled the bag she'd filled with food and drink over his shoulders, slipping his wings through the wing harnesses.

"Well, take care. I hope you find them before the big bang takes out all of Eques. What should I tell the others?"

"Exactly what Melody said. That I went out to check on the external structures of the Stable and I probably won't be coming back." He said and she nodded as he turned and walked out the door. "Oh, and Coco, don't tell anyone about Operation Last Resort." With that, he disappeared down the hall, heading towards the Stable Door.

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 **And yeah. Chapter 1. Woo. Moving on.**

 **Perk Received: Compassionate Hunter.** ** _You're a kind soul, but survival is survival. You do what must be done, even if it means sparing someone evil._**


	2. Chapter 2: Southern Wastes

**Here we go with Chapter 2.**

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 **Chapter 2: The Southern Wastes.**

Artemis stepped out of Stable 215 as soon as he heard the boiler start up and filter heated water throughout the stable. Cheers of joy greeted the activation of the boiler and were cut off suddenly as the Stable Door hissed closed behind him. Breathing deeply, Artemis looked around and went to the left, heading around the Stable to look for any breaches. Not to long later, maybe thirty minutes later, Artemis found himself back at the door of his former home. Looking at the bright yellow 215 painted on the door, he let out a sigh and turned away, heading out of the hive and into... darkness. Everything around him was black, no light shown through the clouds, no lights glinted off of cities in the distance. Even the light of his Pip-Buck lamp could barely illuminate the darkness. Reaching for Harbinger, Artemis thought better of it and reached behind him, pulling out a shotgun and loading in a magazine. Benefit of being a former member of Stable security, weapons with a decent bit of fire power. His Pip-Buck ranked the shotgun as able to dish out 200 damage. Assuming that was lethal, the shotgun should be good for anything he might run into out there. Stepping out of the hive, Artemis almost instantly regretted the decision as he heard a scuttling and shuffling coming from his left and right. Swinging the shotgun to the left, he swung his Pip-Buck lamp to the right and froze. Heading towards him was a monster straight out of nightmares. It had the eyes of a Changeling, the upper body of a minotaur, and the hind quarters of a griffon, all of which seemed to have melted together into an almost soupy body. Blasting swinging his shotgun around to bare on the thing, he sent a blast of buckshot towards it and paled when the things body wasn't pasted. Hearing the scuttling behind him speed up, he took to the air, his wings carrying him above the monsters as he blasted the one he'd just hit and watched with satisfaction as it's head squelched into a past of bone and meat.

Landing behind the other one, which his Pip-Buck aptly named "chimera", he unloaded to rapid fire shots into the things spine. Watching it split in half, Artemis sighed as he took to the air again, not looking forward to running into more of them. "Alright Pip-Buck, what town is closest?" He asked his arm computer and spun up the map. The nearest town was Appleloosa. Sighing, he turned in the direction indicated and flew towards the former home of Applejack's cousin Braeburn. "I wonder what the bombs did to Appleloosa." He asked himself. As he came within sight of it, he was unsurprised to find the town in ruins. His surprise came when he discovered it was inhabited. Landing, he leveled his shotgun at the head of the first citizen to raise their gun. "I don't mean any trouble. Just lookin' for a place to set down roots." He said and one of the inhabitants huffed.

"If yer lookin' fer a place ta call home, y' found th' right place. Fer th' right price." The inhabitant he was aiming at said around a mouth full of teeth that looked about ready to fall out anyway.

"How about your life? I've got a shotgun, an assault rifle, and a pistol and can guarantee I'll take more hits to bring down than you can all dish out." Artemis said and one of the inhabitants cranked what looked like a tractor starter, his gun starting to glow. Keeping the shotgun trained on the one in front of him, Artemis reached for his belt and quick as a blink, pulled out Harbinger and aimed it at the settlers' head. "One shot from this and everything behind you gets blown to hell. Your choice. Lower your weapons, let me find a place to rest until morning, and I'll be out of your hair." He said and the settlers behind the one Harbinger was aimed at all scattered.

"Ya got a deal pardner. Just be outa here by t'morra." The first settler to speak said and Artemis nodded, removing his aim from them as they all lowered their guns. Holstering Harbinger, Artemis walked into town, smirking a little as he heard them part to let him pass. Coming to Braeburn's old house, Artemis sucked in a breath and went inside. Flicking the switch, he was happy to see the lights still worked but not so happy to see what they revealed. Still wearing his old hat and vest, the skeleton of Braeburn was laying over an overturned table, his hands looking like they'd been holding something before it was roughly torn from his hands. Taking the hat, Artemis used this opportunity to test his purification spell. Casting it perfectly, he was happy to note that the slight clicking from his Pip-Buck disappeared as he put on the hat.

"Guess I won't be leaving bright and early after all. Gonna have to get me some breakfast." He said to himself as he gently moved Braeburn's corpse and turned the table back over. He didn't trust the mattress in the corner and the table was stable. Climbing up onto it, he curled up, raised a barrier around himself and Braeburn's corpse, and went to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up to giggling. Opening his eyes, he noticed that sitting outside his protective bubble, holding a simple 10mm pistol, was a young girl, earth pony by the looks of her. Yawning and stretching, Artemis rolled off of the table into a crouch and reached for Harbinger. "Ah ain't gonna shoot ya." She said and he looked over at her. She was holding the pistol, but from what he could see it wasn't loaded. Removing his hand from Harbinger's handle, Artemis stood slowly and lowered his barrier just as slowly. Picking up Braeburn's hat, he put it back on his head after fixing his hair as best he could. "Want breakfast?" She asked as she hopped up and wandered into the kitchen. Pulling open the fridge, Artemis was impressed to see meat interspersed among the veggies. "By yer teeth, Ah guess ya eat meat?" He nodded when she looked over after a moment of silence and she pulled out what his Pip-Buck recognized as Radigator meat. Highly irradiated. Walking into the kitchen, he watched her cook it and was amazed when his Pip-Buck read the meat as less irradiated than it had been when she pulled it out of of the refrigerator.

A moment later, he had a plate of cooked radigator meat on the table in front of him. She'd fixed herself a salad of slightly irradiated veggies. "So, stranger, what's yer name? Ya been mighty close lipped 'bout that bit o' info." She said and he nodded around a bite of possibly the most delicious meat he'd ever tasted. The slight radiation gave it a moderately spiced kick that didn't taste too bad. Besides, he had RadAway in his bag. "Gonna tell me?" She asked and he nodded again, swallowing the bite and taking a drink of the purified water in his canteen.

"Name's Artemis." He said and she nodded.

"Ah'm Music Blossom. Stupid name, right? Ah don't even like music, and Ah sure can't dance fer nothin'." She said and he chuckled.

"Maybe your name means something different. Maybe you're not supposed to dance or like music, maybe you're supposed to inspire others." She turned and looked at the wall in thought, scratching her chin with the pistol while he finished his meal. "Well, it was nice to meet you miss Blossom. I'd best be headed out." He said as he stood and went to gather his gear. Walking into the main room, he saw a young buck rummaging through his bag. Old enough to hold a gun, Artemis noticed that said gun was strapped to the boy's leg in a loose fitting holster. Walking up behind him as quietly as his boots would allow, Artemis pressed Harbinger's barrel to the kid's jaw and gently lifted his head. "It's not polite to dig through someone else's belongings. Get lost kid." He said, shoving the youngster towards the door and hefting his bag. Turning to the door, he stopped when he saw the kid aiming a gun that looked like it was an amalgam of old pipes welded and screwed together as best they could be into an apparently working fire arm. His Pip-Buck chimed a little and he lifted it to look, noticing that it was naming the pistol in the kids hands a Pipe Pistol.

"Git lost mister. That there's mah loot." The kid said as he eyed Artemis' bag. Sighing, Artemis set the bag down and picked up the shotgun strapped to the side of it.

"You won't use that gun kid. Trust me." Chambering a fresh round, Artemis watched with some satisfaction as the kids eyes followed the ejected slug to the ground, his eyes widening in fear. The fear was quickly replaced by determination and Artemis barely reacted fast enough to have the bullet glance off of his golden arm as the youngster pulled the trigger. The round still bit deep into the wolf's arm and Artemis used the impact to propel himself into a spin, coming to a crouch and leveling the shotgun, one handed, at the youth. "Try that again and your head's paste kid." He said and the kid swallowed, the pistol visibly shaking in his grip as he stared Artemis down.

"Let th' man have 'is things Twister. He's leavin' anyhow." The older stallion from the other night said, stepping up behind the kid, Braeburn's shotgun in his hand. Twister, the kid with the pipe pistol, swallowed his determination and lowered the pistol as Artemis stood and strapped the combat shotgun back to the side of his bag and hefted the bag onto his shoulder. As he walked passed the older gentleman from the night before, Artemis' hand shot out lightning quick, ejected the two rounds out of Braeburn's shotgun and took the gun, pressing two new slugs into the chambers and pressing the barrel to the apparent mayor's jaw.

"See that the skeleton in that house gets a proper burial. If I come back here and he's just tossed in a corner, I'm coming after you first." Artemis said as he strapped his newest shotgun to his bag and walked for the front gate. Turning at the gate, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look. Hurrying up with a bag slung over her shoulder and a hooded jacket on to protect her from the chill and the sun, Music Blossom looked like she was about as ready to leave as he was. "What are you doing?" He asked her and she looked up at him.

"Ah'm comin' with ya. Y'seem t' know how t' take care o' yerself, but Ah bet ya can't cook up a radigator just right." She said and he sighed and started back on the path towards one of the larger cities in Southern Equestria, one he was all too familiar with. Coltson City, a city that even before the war was famous for having a high crime rate. Before the Great War, during the Changeling War, Coltson City had been overrun with Changelings and their pony slaves, but even before then thieves, thugs, robbers, and generally bad people seemed to flock to Coltson City. "So, where we headed first?" his new companion asked and he glanced over at her before pointing at the towering structures in the distance.

"Colston City. Figure if I'll find somewhere to lay down roots till my time comes, Coltson City's big enough." She stopped in her tracks at that mention and he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Yer plum crazy if yer headed t' Coltson. That's like sayin' yer goin' t' Ponyville. It's Raider central now." She said as she ran up to him to keep pace with him. Finding out that Ponyville was Raider Central put his former home on his list of places to stop once they'd left the desert, but discovering that Coltson City hadn't changed much didn't surprise him in the least. It had always been a hive of scum and villainy. Wretched he wouldn't call it because even with its high crime rates, Coltson City had still been a beautiful place.

"Then I guess we'll have to clear out some of the Raiders, won't we?" He said as he continued walking. Sighing, Music kept pace with him until she heard shouting off in the distance that seemed to be getting louder. Noticing that he'd heard it too, she followed him as he slipped off the path. Once out of sight and hidden behind some bushes and trees, he passed her a clip of 10mm rounds for her pistol and swapped out Harbinger for his own 10mm. No point in wasting dragon killer rounds on raiders. When the voices didn't get any louder, he gestured for her to follow him and watch her footing as he headed towards the shouting off the path. A few minutes later, they came upon a group of well but sloppily armed bandits harassing an unarmed caravan.

"Raiders. Bastards don't know when t' quit. Think we c'n skirt 'em and just keep on our path?" She asked him and he shook his head and gestured with his pistol at what the caravaners were defending. Huddled under a blanket, eyes wide and terrified, was a little unicorn girl with blue hair. "Ah figured you'd see a reason t' help 'em." She said and looked to where he'd just been crouched. Shaking her head quickly, she noticed that he wasn't there and nearly blew her own cover to stand up and look for him when she felt his hands cover her mouth and her shoulder to keep her crouched. Looking directly in front of her, she saw a slight shimmer in the air and her eyes went wide. Smirking, though she couldn't see him, Artemis slipped from cover and snuck up behind the first Raider he came to, his shotgun just as invisible as he was. Holstering his 10mm, Artemis gripped his combat shotgun with both hands and, with one powerful swing, rammed the barrel halfway up the Raider's ass. The injured Raider screamed for a split second before Artemis squeezed the trigger and blew the entire upper half of his target to bloody splinters. As his invisibility faltered, he swung the lower half of the raider around and bashed it into the head of the one on his right, dislodging the carcass as he squeezed the trigger again, splattering the brains of that Raider all over his buddy. Sadly, the decision to attack the one in the middle bit Artemis in the ass as rounds litterally bit into his back, most of them missing his head by mere inches.

Using his magic, he summoned his combat helmet as a shotgun slug slammed into the back of his head, sending him reeling into the ground. Smashing his face into the asphalt, Artemis barely rolled out of the way as another Raider blasted the spot where his head had just been with another shotgun slug. Turning to face his would be killer, Artemis was impressed to see two of them drop from headshots coming from the direction of the bushes where he'd left Music. Turning around, Artemis summoned his face mask just in time to defend his eyes from becoming jelly from another shotgun blast. The shotgun this Raider was using seemed defective, only firing one shell at a time, which played into Artemis' advantage hugely. Holding his shotgun out in front of him horizontally, he bull rushed the Raider and slammed into his legs, sending him sprawling as Artemis brought his weapon up, gripped the barrel and stock and slammed the butt of the gun into the Raider's face, plastering eye jelly and brain gunk onto the asphalt. Bringing the shotgun up again, Artemis was blown backwards by an explosion that blew his Shotgun to bits and left his non-golden hand seared. Looking up, he saw a Pegasus pony Raider reloading a rocket launcher.

Hesitating for only a second, Artemis rolled to his feet and took off at a dead run directly below the Raider. As the Raider rotated to keep the barrel of her rocket launcher pointed at him, Artemis unfurled his wings and shot into the air directly below the Raider. The girl panicked for only a second, bringing the her launcher around like a bat to smash him in the head only too late realizing he had a helmet on. Rolling in mid air in a maneuver Rainbow Dash would have been proud of, Artemis both avoided getting brained by a gun and slammed into the belly of the Raider, knocking the breath from her lungs and causing her wings to seize up. As she plummeted to the ground, Artemis rolled again in mid air and caught her arm. Landing lightly, he pressed her face to the ground as he held her wings against her back with his knee and pressed the barrel of his 10mm to her temple. "Who do you work for?" He asked her and she struggled to get him off of her, letting out weak growling sounds.

"I won't tell you nothin' scavver." She said and he sighed. Her grammar was atrocious, and as she struggled, he began to notice a certain smell to her that had him reeling back a little. She smelled like she hadn't bathed properly in years.

"Fine, simple question. What do you want with the girl?" He asked, pressing the barrel tighter to her temple.

"Don't want the girl, want her gun. If the cunt won't give it up, we were just gonna give her to the boys to have fun with till they broke her." She said and he stared down at her then sucked in a breath of fresh air and leaned down so she could see his razor sharp teeth.

" Use proper grammar, if you can, and do not be rude or I'll use my teeth to kill you instead of my gun." He said and she let out a squeak as he leaned back. "Now, let's try this again. Who do you work for?"

"Wind Willow! Raid Queen Wind Willow! She operates out of Coltson City!" She shrieked, struggling harder to get loose he nodded and looked at the caravan drivers, keeping his gun pressed to her head.

"You lot are traveling without guards and without weapons. Why?" He asked and the oldest member of the caravan walked up with the girl in question.

"Weapons are what caused the Great War and left Equestria the way it is. Anyone with a weapon is just another war waiting to happen." The old man said and the girl shook her head and sighed.

"Not true. Weapons didn't cause the Great War, fear did... fear and paranoia. We developed weapons to fight others that had weapons already. I should know, I helped develop most of them." Artemis looked down at the 10mm pressed to the Raider's temple then back up at the old man and the girl. She was staring at him with intrigue and the old man was looking at him like he was some kind of god. Being half Alicorn, he probably was to half of the people of Equestria now.

"Were you headed to Manehatten by any chance?" The girl asked and Artemis shook his head.

"Not at first, no, but I suppose I am now." Standing up, he hauled the Raider to her feet and spun her around, grasping the strap across her chest that seemed to be holding bullets for a gun she didn't have. "Tell your boss that after I get this Caravan to Manehatten, I'm coming back here to take her down. Her and her entire operation. The name's Artemis Shadow, and if she's half as smart as I'm assuming she is, she'll know who the Wolf Warrior is. Tell her that the Wolf Warrior has returned and is coming for her." He said before shoving her away and watching as she took off in the direction of Coltson City.

"Well, that was... interesting." Music said as she joined him. "So, we're headed t' Manehatten first huh? Guess that's better than Coltson." She said as she helped the caravaneers gather their things. Artemis helped them get their pack animals, which his Pip-Buck recognized as Brahmin, hitched to the wagons. As soon as they were hitched up, Music, himself, and the girl hopped in the back of the wagon at the back of the caravan, the girl holding a gun that looked strange. He couldn't see where the bullets would go in, nor did it look to have a barrel. Curious about her weapon but figuring if she was willing to die for it that it had to be important to her, he didn't ask, just turned his eyes to the sky as the made their way to Manehatten and Tenpony Tower.

* * *

 **Boom. Chapter 2. We've got one member of the group, know about a Raider company running themselves out of Coltson City (for those of you not savvy to horse puns, Coltson City is Carson City, Nevada), AND we've met someone famous. Giving all credit to Kkat for the original creation of Fallout Equestria, if you guys don't know who we just met, here's a hint. She fucks Little Pip in the original FE. Hope you guys enjoy, R &R and I'll get Chapter 3 up soon, hopefully.**


	3. Chapter 3: Ponyville Massacre

**And... Chapter 3, I guess. Moving on.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Ponyville Massacre.**

Artemis sat in the back of the wagon with Music and the girl with the strange gun, his eyes fixed on the gun. It was interesting to him, considering he'd helped design the vast majority of the pre-war weapons. This one was one he'd never seen. "C-can I help you?" She asked, moving the gun a little. Noticing where it looked like he was looking, Artemis shook his head sharply and smiled as kindly as he could with his razor sharp teeth.

"No, just interested in your gun. I've never seen one like it before." She looked at him and swallowed before holding it out.

"A friend of mine... died... keeping this gun from Raiders... so..." He took it gently and turned it over in his hands.

"So it's precious to you. I get that." He smiled as he slipped Harbinger from his bag and passed it to her. "That one is precious to me." Looking down the sight on the strange gun, he realized it was a sniper rifle. Looking over it again, he couldn't see where the scope was, but when he looked back down the sight, he could clearly see quite a way back behind them. All the way back to Appleoosa in fact. Turning it over some more, his finger brushed across a slightly rough part of it and he pressed, jumping a little when a cylindrical bore slid out of the side of the gun, holding a glowing tube of green and purple ooze. "Huh... so that's where the ammo goes in." Touching the rough bit again, the bore slid back home and the gun let out a light hum as if singing. "Impressive hardware. I can see why it's special to you." He said as he held it back out to her, accepting Harbinger as she took her rifle back. Standing up as much as he could without hitting the roof of the wagon and keep his balance at the same time, he walked to the back of it and sat down with his legs dangling.

"Why did ya'll wanna go to Tenpony Tower anyhow?" Music asked and the girl mumbled something Artemis barely caught. Sanctuary. A safe haven from the Wasteland. Nodding a little, he stared at the landscape behind them, leaning back a little until the wagon took an abrupt left. Grabbing the support next to him, he spun around and looked at the driver.

"Why're we turning? It's a straight shot to Manehatten if we go through Ponyville." He said and the girl and Music both looked at him like he was insane.

"You crazy kid? We go through Ponyville, we might as well hand over the women to be slaves fer Red Eye and hang ourselves. Ponyville's Raider territory." The rest of what the driver said was drowned out as Artemis' mind filled with happy memories of his home. Memories that, even as he remembered them, were twisted by the thought of Raiders rampaging through his home town, raping, killing, and slaughtering his friends. A growl escaped his throat as he moved to the front.

"Stop the wagon." He said and one look at his face had the driver complying. Moving quickly out the back of the wagon, he stopped only for a second to tell Music to stay put. He didn't want her to see what he was going to do to the monsters defiling his home. Moving like a shadow, he slipped through the trees, avoiding creatures his Pip-Buck tagged as dangerous or deadly, until he was at the edge of town. Staring into town, he noticed that several Raiders had made their home in the rebuilt Library where his mother had lived when she'd first come to Ponyville. More Raiders were hooting and howling in Sugar Cube Corner, which had been converted to a bar. What disgusted him the most was what had become of the Boutique and the Spa. Scattered around what used to be the spa were groups of Raiders with what appeared to be slaves bent over barrels and boxes and tables. The spa had become nothing more than a den for Raiders to fuck their slaves. The Boutique was worse. The once beautiful building was sorely in disrepair. Windows were shattered, the roof looked to be caving in and torn and the front door was wide open, revealing the interior to be, apparently, where they dumped the corpses when they were done with their slaves. Growling deep in his throat, Artemis slipped from the darkness of the trees and into the one building that hadn't been touched by the Raiders, Fluttershy's cottage. Slipping inside, Artemis realized why. The place was filled with Radiation, which a quick cast of his purification spell cleared entirely. Intermingled with the radiation, and left over after the spell, was Chaos Magic. Discord's specialty. No surprise, with how much time he'd spent in this particular house.

Leaning against the door, Artemis quickly moved to the side when he heard footsteps approaching the door. "You in there, come on out! We saw you slippin' in there!" A voice shouted and Artemis growled, low and deep in his throat and loud enough for them to hear him. "Jeezus... maybe don't. I don' wanna mess with no Rad Wolf." The voice said again and the two Raiders turned and walked, quickly, in the other direction.

"Cowards..." Artemis said to himself as he opened the door slowly with his magic, causing the underused hinges to creak loudly. The two Raiders stopped and turned, as ponies typically did in horror films when the door to an abandoned home swings open that eerily. One of them was met with a blast of wood as the door exploded outwards, both blinding and crippling him, while the other found the barrel of Harbinger shoved into his mouth. "I'm not too concerned with being quite, since this gun will alert everyone in this town to my presence, but at this point... I don't care. You don't fuck with my home." He said as he squeezed the trigger, counting in his head the number of bullets left. He had seven remaining. Enough to use on the other two pistols if his dad's survived and if he found Scootaloo's pistol. The resounding explosion of the shot going off could easily be heard all the way in Tenpony Tower, if not Hoofington, if it still stood, and it put a hole in the ground next to Fluttershy's Cottage that could have easily housed an entire Stable. There wasn't much left of the Raider who'd been biting the barrel, and the Raider under Artemis both wouldn't move or see what was going to happen next. Throwing the door off of his next victim, Artemis stared down at the woman who'd been pinned under the remains of the door and growled.

"You're letting them rape innocents while you stand by and do nothing? I should give you to the Rad Wolves." He said as he slammed his boot down on her throat, crushing her wind pipe. She would not die quickly, as none of the other Raiders in town would if they were lucky enough to survive his onslaught. Standing up, Artemis holstered Harbinger and picked up the rifle dropped by the severed hands of Harbinger's latest victim. "Bolt Actions suck, but at least this guy had enough ammo on him to last." Picking up the ammo for Bolt Action Hunting Rifle the Raider had had, Artemis walked towards the town and the swarm of Raiders heading his way. Raising the rifle in one hand, Artemis didn't even bother with a sight as he pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and caused a group of them to hit the dirt, including the one missing half of his head. As soon as the initial shock of being shot at cleared, the remaining Raiders opened fire. Their aim was as clumsy as their screwing and he only took a couple bullets, the vast majority of them bouncing harmlessly off of his golden arm. Crouching for a moment, Artemis rocketed forward at a dead run, low to the ground to gain speed and plowed into the mass of Raiders, bullets pinging harmlessly off of his arm and biting deep where they hit, but the shock of him running _at_ them instead of away had been enough to skew their aim even worse.

It had also caused the more cowardly ones to turn tail and run the other way. Artemis picked them off easily enough, pegging them in the back of the leg or the back of the head. The ones who got shot in the head dropped like sacks of flour while the ones with leg shots limped for a foot or so before smashing into the ground. The other Raiders scattered a little and Artemis was able to count them in their panic. Forty-five, enough for him to handle them with his bare hands. After using the rest of the rounds in the rifle he'd picked up. Leveling the rifle at another target, who had decided to try rushing him with a makeshift sword made out of a broken two-by-four and some glass jammed in the side of it, Artemis squeezed the trigger and watched as the bullet punched a hole the size of his fist in the gut of the sword wielder. As that Raider dropped, Artemis slid the rifle onto his back and rushed another Raider that was heading for the library. He was rewarded with a shot to the shoulder, his golden arm shoulder, that knocked him to his butt. A sniper with a high powered rifle was camped out on the top floor of the library. Racing into cover, Artemis flexed his arm and was glad to note that the bullet hadn't dented his shoulder. Checking his Pip-Buck, Artemis saw that his numbers had been wrong. There were still some Raiders at the Spa. Counting them, the ones in the Library who were waiting to ambush him if he came in, and the ones that had stayed in the boutique, there were a grand total of 60 of them.

"Come out boy and we'll kill ya slowly. Ya messed with the wrong Raiders punk!" One of them shouted and Artemis peeked up to see who it was. A bullet pinged off of the cart wall next to his ear and he ducked back, but he'd noticed that the shooter was the one who'd yelled.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll make a new one! Get the fuck out of my town or I'll kill all but fifteen of you!" He was greeted with silence for a moment before the Raiders broke out in laughter, some of them hooting so loud Artemis was at least ninety percent sure they'd lowered their guns.

"You're out numbered, ya dumb shit! We'll make swiss cheese outa you!" the apparent leader shouted again and Artemis shrugged then grinned.

"No thanks, Swiss Cheese never was my favorite. How about this... I make forty-five of you into ground meat and the remaining fifteen let me go home scot free for fear for their own lives!" He shouted and vaulted over the cart, sinking his claws into the side of the wall as he vaulted over it and throwing it into the crowd of raiders. The former flower cart slammed into the raider leader and ten of his followers before coming to a stop against the wall of Sugar Cube Corner, the raiders behind it being smashed by the impact. While the rest of them contemplated their possible deaths, Artemis was already getting set to grant them their wishes. Racing to the left to avoid the sniper, Artemis caught one Raider by the throat, his claws digging in deep enough to sever the jugular vein as he pulled, using the corpse as a weapon to bludgeon other Raiders to the dirt. One of them attempted to stand up but Artemis tore out the throat of his make-shift weapon and shoved the gaping hole into his mouth, drowning him in his friends blood. The resulting splatter of a throat being torn out did not spare his clothing, however, and he knew that when he was done, he'd be covered in Raider blood. Not the best impression to make on residents of Tenpony Tower. When a bullet bit him in the butt, Artemis turned and growled at the shooter, who was in a group of Raiders that looked too afraid to try and shoot him. One of them was even coward enough to point out the one that had shot him. Rushing towards them, Artemis speared both of them with rifles he'd picked up on the way to them. Pulling the triggers on the rifles, Artemis killed the first three that were behind the two with the rounds coming out of the guns before the bodies dragged them out of his grip. "Now... let's see. That makes twenty two of you dead already? Tut tut tut... not such good numbers boys. Now I'm just gonna be bored." He said as he looked up at the remaining Raiders. What they saw had two of them pissing themselves and the others attempting to run away.

His magic was affecting him in scary ass ways, affected by his rage. His hair whipped around as if caught up in a storm but never seemed to tangle, his eyes looked to be emanating fire, and his horns looked like they were flaming. To top off the effect, he was using his wings to move faster than some of them could see. To them, the architect of their deaths looked like a demon straight from the bowels of Tartaros. Using his wing power, he sped over to one Raider who'd been trying to run away at the head of a group of them and held up his golden arm. An arm that was shining with enough magic he could easily level Ponyville with one blast of magical power. A blast of magical power that he released into their faces, wiping out another ten of them. "Like I said... now I'm getting bored. But I promised I'd kill forty five of you. I've got thirteen to go." He said as he shot, just like a bullet out of a gun, into another group of Raiders. These ones he tore apart with his bare hands. His claws made short work of their skin, and the ones wearing armor were no match for the blade like claws on his golden hand. Running to the last few Raiders, he stopped mid swing at one Raider's pretty face. Looking over them, he counted them out. "Seven. Let's see here... minus the ones I already killed, that leaves... twenty two of you. Hmmm... my math must be off." He said as he looked around, his hand patting the Raider's cheek gently. The other Raiders around her cowered like little kittens in the face of a dragon. "Ah, that must be it." He said as his eyes stopped on a group of Raiders trying to crawl towards the boutique. Seven Raiders exactly. "It's your lucky day boys and girls. You get to live. They don't." he said as he wandered over to them at a leisurely pace. The seven lucky ones watched as he went until he reached the first of the seven new victims.

Looking away quickly, they didn't see what he did, but the resulting screams and sounds of squelching, squishy body parts being smashed to paste caused one of them to lose his lunch. When a particularly meaty chunk of flesh plopped into the lap of the one he'd almost scalped, she screamed and took off into the Library. When Artemis was finished with his forty-five, he looked up at the balcony of the library and didn't see the sniper. Either he or she had wised up and hidden themselves or they'd decided they didn't want to witness the massacre anymore. At close range from a distance through their scope. Walking back the way he'd come, he picked up a couple rifles as he passed them, grabbing Ammo where he could and armor where he found pieces that weren't destroyed. As he walked passed Fluttershy's Cottage, he paused to pick up the Raider that was choking to death, still, from outside her door. Stopping for a moment at the stream, he purified the water around him to clean up before dropping her in the water and healing her throat. "I look at it this way. You weren't dead when I named my quota of forty-five dead Raiders in town. So you've got two choices now. One, you can go back into Ponyville and put a target on your back for the next time I come through here. Or two, you can run back to wherever you're from and stay there and pray I never come your way." He said, looking at her before cupping some of the purified water in a breast plate he'd found on a dead raider and dumping the water on his head to clean the blood off of his face.

"What's to stop me from taking that fancy gun of yours and shootin' you with it?" She asked and he looked up at her, his eyes perfectly calm even as blood dripped into them from his hair. His shirt was covered in blood, probably ruined, and there was still blood dripping off of the Gauntlet.

"The fact that I just said you weren't dead when I named my quota of forty-five _dead_ Raiders, who are in fact dead. And the fact that if you try I'll have your throat in the water before you can blink." He said and she stepped back a little as he pulled his shirt off and looked it over. "Yup... completely ruined." He said to himself as he tossed the shirt behind him. She blinked a couple times before taking off in the opposite direction. Away from Ponyville. "Smart girl." He stood slowly so he wouldn't faint into the water and turned to head back to the road. Arriving there, he saw that Music was the only one still there. "Where'd our ride go?" He asked.

"On to Tenpony. Ah told 'em Ah'd wait for ya and we'd go our on way." he nodded and shrugged.

"Alright. Coltson City, here we come." He said as the two of them turned and headed back the direction they'd come with the wagon.

* * *

 **For the massacre, use your imaginations. And no, I'm not saying that Artemis is over powered. Rage, magic, and training carried him a long way. He's ignoring the fact that he's got holes in him from bullets. I'll address that next chapter. R &R and I'll have the next chapter up soon. Also, to answer a question asked in the reviews, I'm not sure why it's not Pip-Colt instead of Pip-Buck. It could be because "Buck" sounds closer to "Boy" than colt (I admit to having said Pip-Buck a few times when referring to the Pip-Boy in Fallout 4.) Or it could be because Buck and Boy both start with B. Say that ten times fast. **

**Level Up) Perk Gained: Blood Rage. _Your anger sure does carry you far. Adrenaline usually carries soldiers to victory in battle, but you become a rage blinded berserker. Congrats, psycho._**


	4. Chapter 4: Raid Queen Wind Willow

**And chapter 4. Hurray... Now that I feel like writing again. But, before I continue this, I need the honest opinion of everyone who reads my fanfictions. I re-read my original FoE: Operation Rebirth fanfic, chapter 1 anyway since that was the only chapter I had up and I kinda liked it better. This one's not to bad, considering it has my idea of Artemis if he'd have been fighting during the war before being locked into a Stable and will eventually have Artemis at his full potential as a mage and warrior, so yes, if I do start that last one back up, I will continue this one and finish it, but the original one will be the true sequel. IF you guys want me to start it up again. It had a less confident Artemis, less skilled with weapons and still trying to get used to his magic as a whole. I realize it seems to be difficult to post a long, drawn out explanation of why you guys think I should do something or even what you think of the story so far, but I'm only asking for a yes or no answer this time. Yes, start it back up again or no, keep going with this one and don't do another story.**

 **I openly admit that even if you guys say no here, I'll probably do it anyway just on a different medium or a different website, which would mean you guys probably wouldn't get to see it, which would be a shame because I think you guys like what I'm doing with these and like my writing style. Anyway, on with the chapter.**

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 **Chapter 4: Coltson City and the Raid Queen.**

Artemis and Music lay on their bellies in the mud, the hill they were on over looking the entrance to Coltson City. It was decidedly not the city he remembered. The last time he'd visited Coltson City, he'd been able to walk through the large archway at the entrance to down town. Now, looking at it, the archway was most decidedly not the best way to get inside. Without his scope, he could see several large tank like robots built by Stable-Tec called a D-235 Ministry Offensive Tank or D.M.O.T. These ones were modified with different weapons and parts, making them seemingly more powerful. Through his scope, there were turrets built along the entire rim of the archway, all pointed outwards. On top of the archway were spotlights pointing across the newly built bridge that crossed a river that hadn't been there before the war. Making their job even harder were the very tall walls with barbed wire built on the opposite side with turrets lining some spots. Along the wall there seemed to be a platform that had guards pacing back and forth. "Those're some nasty lookin' guns those boys have." Music said as Artemis lowered his rifle for the third time.

"It's the tanks I'm worried about. Those D'mots are gonna cause us some issues if they target us as enemies." She glanced at him then looked down at the giant robots that rolled along on four giant wheels. One of them had an arm that was clearly five different rocket launchers welded together and set to a trigger mechanism that would fire the rockets in a spiraling pattern. While that was cool in theory, it made the rockets flight erratic after a few minutes of flight time.

"So how're we gonna git in there?" She asked and he smiled and looked at her with a devious smirk on his face.

"How do you feel about ropes?" She sighed as he slipped backwards away from the cliff edge.

 **Five minutes later.**

"Stop right there." one of the patrol guards shouted at the two approaching strangers. One of them was trussed up like a Hearth's Warming turkey, the other was dressed in a motley set of armor that could have come from one of their patrols, but he was shaped differently. They did as told and the two guards approached cautiously, the Big-Guns rolling along and training their heavy artillery at the new comers. The girl was attractive enough at first glance, and the guy that was bringing her to them had tied her up in a way that made her chest puff out a little. The shirt she was wearing left little to the imagination in this down pour and her short shorts were riding up a pair of cream colored thighs in a way that made the guard drool. Behind her, the guy in armor had strapped her arms behind her back just below the elbow, wrapping them entirely in the rope before forming a knot straight out of a hanging noose book that lead back into a rope that was similarly tied around his wrist, clearly to keep her from running. The pistol aimed at her back would have been deterrent enough for the raider. "What you got here pal?"

"Slave from out east. Boss sends her as a tribute to the Raid Queen." the big guy said as he nudged the girl forward with the muzzle of his pistol. She stumbled forward and the ropes around her armed seemed to slide freely while the ones tied around her chest and stomach tightened, pulling her wet shirt tighter against her breasts. The guard licked his lips lightly before gesturing for the two of them to follow him. The other guard shrugged and trudged around behind the big stranger to form an escort party. As soon as they were passed the archway, the Big-Guns returned to their spots and the turrets stopped spinning their barrels as their alert message was cut off.

"Why'd she have someone like you bring this little thing to us? I take it she's to go straight to Wind Willow herself?" The guard behind them asked and the big guy nodded.

"Straight to the Raid Queen, direct orders. Sent me to make sure the package arrived to Wind Willow untouched by anyone else. Don't got a problem with that, do ya?" he asked, glancing back at the guard behind him, yellow eyes glinting under the visor on his helmet. Falling back a bit, the guard shook his head sharply and lowered his rifle a little more so as to look as nonthreatening as possible. The pistol was a deterrent for the girl. The big guy's eyes would be deterrent for anyone trying to steal her. The trek through down town was a little longer than Artemis had intended, but looking straight ahead, he was sure they were coming to their destination. The building looked like the kind of place a leader would be. Tall, well fortified, and brimming with turrets, guards, and, Artemis noted with a slight lump in his throat, a dragon perched on top of the building. Something that hadn't been there when he'd looked from the top of the cliff.

"Head on in, take the right elevator to the top floor. She'll be expecting you." Artemis nodded and pushed Music forward, into the revolving doors that spun them into the lobby of the building. Heading to the right elevator, Music adjusted a little bit as they stepped inside. He could tell her arms were getting stiff, but he couldn't untie her just yet. Pressing the button for penthouse, Artemis wasn't surprised Wind Willow would chose the nicest room in this entire building to use as her main stationing hub. There were two benefits to being on the top floor, at least for Wind Willow. The dragon could get inside the building, at least his or her head, through a large hole in the roof that could be seen from the cliff top. Benefit number two was that Wind Willow was a Pegasus. If anyone attacked Coltson City, got passed the guards and army of Raiders outside and blew the building to kingdom come, she could just hover and let the building fall passed her with anyone else inside being crushed by several tons of stone, metal and glass. Downsides in Artemis' eyes, if it came down to it and they were in trouble, they had three options. Death by bullets, death by impact with cement on the ground, or death by digestion with that dragon around. Hearing the ding of the elevator reaching its floor, Artemis looked up as the doors slid open, revealing two guards stationed next to the entrance to the living room of the suite. Heading forward, one guard pushed the door open for him and he and Music strode in, the door closing behind him.

Sitting alone in the middle of the living room floor, staring at the television screen, her back to them, was a very naked, very beautiful young pegasus. Clearing his throat to get her attention, he almost felt like he was looking into the past. Turning to look at him with a pair of greyish purple eyes, she used her wings to stand up, flicking them enough to get some lift off of the ground, turning around completely and presenting her front to him. Crossing between her breasts and nearly making him forget she wasn't who he thought she was, an X shaped scar seemed to cup under both of her breasts perfectly. She had another scar on her face, just under her left eye and one on her right arm that looked like a bite mark. "Well, I guess Skip Hunter thought I needed feminine company. The body guard isn't to bad either. Take off that helmet, let me see your face." She said and he shook his head.

"Sorry ma'am. Got burned pretty badly when I was a kid. Helmet stays on. Skip said you'd appreciate the irony in gettin' an Earth Pony pet." Wind Willow pursed her lips and nodded in thought before kicking a shotgun up from the floor next to the couch and aiming it at his head.

"If you were really a raider from the east, you'd know the boss of that region _is_ an Earth Pony named Lion Dancer who is very protective of other Earth Ponies. So, before I repaint my door with your brain, tell me who you are." She said, chambering a fresh round into the shotgun. Artemis raised his hands in defeat and pushed Music behind him with his wing, letting her remove the ropes.

"My name is Artemis Shadow. I'm just a wanderer lookin' for a place to lay my head." He said as she approached him, never taking the shotgun away from his head. When she was in range, she reached passed the gun and tugged the helmet off of him. Letting out a slight gasp that she covered up quickly with a cough, she smirked.

"For bein' burnt as a kid, Artemis, ya look pretty good for a wolf. And you girl?" She asked, never taking her gun from the armed wolf standing in front of her.

"Music Blossom, ma'am. Ah'm just travelin' with him to try and find somewhere to call home." Music said and Wind Willow nodded sagely.

"And you two thought here would be a good place why? My base of operations isn't some pup and his play things nesting hole." she snapped and Music started to retort before remembering the shotgun.

"I've been here before. Before the war."

"What war?" Wind asked Artemis, tapping the barrel of her gun against his chest. At that range, even his armor wouldn't save him a hole in the chest. "You can't possibly mean the one from two hundred years ago. You're not nearly old enough." In answer to her statement, Artemis used on of his hands to move his hair a little, revealing a dragon-like horn that had been hidden perfectly by his hair. Moving his hair on the other side of his head, he revealed a second one before flaring his wings a little.

"My mother was Twilight Sparkle, my father was Knight Shadow. I was born nineteen years before the war began and was drafted to fight the day after my twentieth birthday. The bombs fell three years later and my father and mother saw to it I was inside a Stable before the door closed behind my sister and me, locking us inside for two hundred years." Wind Willow had since dropped her gun, staring at him almost in awe.

"So... you're an Alicorn? At least... part Alicorn." She said dumbly and he nodded his head. "A prince..." Again, he nodded. "A wolf prince..." A third nod had her falling over onto the chair behind her, presenting the two wanderers with a view between her supple thighs. "Holy shit... this changes... well, technically it changes nothing, but it changes everything! With you on my side, I can take out Red-Eye up north in Fillydelphia and take over the entire slave market in one fell swoop." Seeing him shaking his head, she glared at him. "And why not? I basically own you now that I know who you are. You can never leave the city without getting destroyed by my turrets at the gate."

"Because I'm not here to fight your battles for you. I just want somewhere to call home." Staring at him, mouth agape, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"But, if I take out Red-Eye, I'd be wiping out a huge threat to Equestria. He's been enslaving millions, looking for something up north to create cybernetic alicorns to challenge the other alicorns that have been hounding my men for months." She said and Artemis shook his head again.

"I could care less what Red-Eye wanted. If I stay here and go wandering every so often, if I come across him, I'll put a bullet in his head for the simple fact that he's a slaver and seems to be some kind of monster if the rumors spreading throughout the wasteland are to be believed. I will not, however, kill him because another Raider wants to take his place." the wolf said and she sighed and sat forward, pressing her knees together and staring at the floor.

"Alright, fine." Music shook her head sharply and looked at the, supposedly, most feared raider leader in all of the southern wastes. The Raid Queen, Wind Willow, was notorious for taking no prisoners, killing anypony that disagreed with her, and putting any that agreed to her terms to work in the mines on the coast, a death sentence during high tide. "You can stay in Coltson City. I'm not sure where you'll find to stay, but until you find a suitable place for yourselves, might as well call my couch home. Don't expect me to be a 'proper lady' like those fluffed feathers up above the clouds. The Enclave has enough to worry about. If I wanna walk around naked in my home, I'm gonna do it. If I want to have an orgy, it's gonna happen." Returning to the authoritative leader Music expected her to be, Wind Willow stood up and walked back to her spot in the middle of the living room floor, flopping down onto her rear again and staring at the tv. "I imagine you have some things to collect from outside of town. I'll send word ahead you're not to be shot on your return trip." Feeling dismissed, Artemis nodded and the two of them turned and took the elevator back down.

 **Thirty Minutes Later**

Wind Willow sat cross legged on a stool, staring at the bags of gear Artemis had returned with. Sitting on the table was an assortment of weapons she hadn't seen except in books about the old war. A .22 MM Anti-Machine rifle took up the entire middle portion of the table with enough ammunition to level a whole line of D'mots. Beside that was a pump action heavy assault shotgun that made the one she'd been pointing at him look like a b.b gun. The most impressive piece of weaponry on the table, however, was a pistol. It looked like the standard .10mm hand gun that used to be issued to military officers as a side arm. What was impressive about it was it seemed to flicker with energy. Cap that off with the rounds that he set next to it, and it appeared to be able to fire anti-machine rifle rounds. By the time they'd returned, Wind Willow had pulled on a bra and skirt. She'd been in the middle of getting a shirt on when they walked in. Deciding to ignore the shirt, she was amazed by the three other ponies that followed them in, carrying all of his gear. The AM rifle had been separated into three different parts and put into their own cases inside one bag. Two ponies had hauled that into the room while the other carried a smaller bag over her shoulder before setting them where they were told to and leaving.

"So, geared up to take on an army huh?" Artemis spared her the barest of glances as he cleaned a long rifle, removing the six rounds already in the chamber. It was a beautiful piece of handiwork, the wood polished to a high rose wood sheen, the metal polished brightly with rose vines etched carefully into the barrel, ending in a rose that opened as if the stock of the rifle were coming out of it. He'd also returned wearing a long coat and a cowboy hat, looking for all the world like an old fashioned sheriff from the westerns Wind loved to watch. The armor being off of him also revealed something else, his right arm was made entirely of gold, the joints seeming to be made of magic so he could still flex his arm. Watching the gold move as flesh would was strange, but proved that he really did have powerful magic. "Why would a single wanderer and his friend need this much fire power?" she asked as she reached for the hand gun. As her fingers reached it, Artemis' golden hand slapped down between her hand and the gun.

"Don't touch." Was all he said as he went back to cleaning the long rifle. He was taking great care to keep it shining and new, as if it were precious to him.

"Alright, I won't touch. But those two have to have names. The rifle and the gun. If they're special, you must have named them something." He nodded once before holding up the rifle and letting her see an engraving on the side of the stock. "Rose Luck? Like the flower mare of Ponyville back before the war? Why name it after a mare who was probably as old as your mom back then?"

"I didn't. Her fiance did. This gun brought him great luck during the war. Braeburn was like an uncle to me." She nodded thoughtfully and looked at the handgun.

"And that?"

"Harbinger. Don't touch." She narrowed her eyes at him before sticking her tongue out at him like an insolent little child. "I built it myself."

"Oh, no wonder it's special to you then. Harbinger huh? I take it it doesn't always look like that?" He nodded before tapping it with a golden finger. The image stopped flickering before the gun turned into what to the untrained eye would look like a standard issue .45mm hand cannon. Looking closer at it, she saw that the barrel was closed off save for an exit hole the size of her pinkie finger. The AM rounds would never fit through that, unless... "It doesn't fire bullets, does it? Not natural ones at least."

"Balefire rounds normally. I've got five left. Otherwise it fires magic."

"Magic bullets huh. Neat." She said as she spun the seat of the stool, sitting on it like a little girl would. When he finished cleaning his rifle, he handed it to Music who set it very carefully back into the bag it was in. Grabbing his AM rifle, he wiped it down quickly, checked that the barrel was clean, ejected the rogue round from the chamber, and took it apart, putting it back into the bag before placing the shotgun and the rest of his gear into the other bag. Sighing now that he was done with cleaning the rifle, Wind Willow hopped up and walked over to her couch where she'd left the shirt. Looking out the window, she swore under her breath. "It's already dark out. You guys took forever grabbing your stuff. Guess I'll head to bed then. Crash wherever you want to." She said as she shed the bra, dropping the skirt halfway to her bedroom door. The panties followed shortly after before the door closed behind her. Music stretched and went to the couch, laying down and pulling the blanket Wind had provided for her over her to cover up. Artemis stayed sitting at the table, looking over at Music. Standing up, he pulled his coat off and heard the subtle creak of a door opening. Thinking nothing of it at first, he glanced over his shoulder to see a tail disappearing into Wind's room. Swearing under his breath at the fact that he didn't have a sword anymore, Artemis snuck over to the door and peeked inside. Standing over Wind Willow, clearly an assassin, was what anyone would have mistaken for just a random pony from the town. Dressed in rags, he didn't look all that threatening, save for the dagger in his hand.

Flinging the door open, Artemis jumped at the assassin, flaring his wings to glide. The thunk of the door on the wall caused the assassin to turn, the blade of the dagger angled poorly as Artemis impacted with his arm. As the assassin tumbled to the floor, the dagger sank deep into his chest, obviously piercing his heart and killing him nearly instantly. Sadly, his other arm had swung up and clipped Artemis' shoulder with another dagger, cutting deep into his wing and causing him to flop down onto Wind Willow, who wasn't quite asleep yet. Propping himself up on his shoulder, Artemis looked at the assassin for a moment to make sure he wasn't getting up before turning to Wind, who was looking right at him, her greyish purple eyes meeting his.

 **(Warning. NSFW Section coming up.)**

Seemingly without thinking, Wind's lips brushed his only once before she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close for a kiss that would have curled Scootaloo's toes. His arms went around her waist as he held her close to him, the blanket frustrating him slightly as it kept him from feeling her skin. Flaring the magic on his horns, he swung the door closed as he tossed the blanket separating them to the floor, covering the assassin's head. Leaning back, he looked down at her body, taking her in with his eyes even as she had taken him in with her words. Leaning down to her chest, he traced the x shaped scare between her breasts before settling on her left breast, teasing the nipple lightly with his teeth. Hearing an aroused gasp from her, he smiled as his golden hand cupped her right breast, her hands coming to rest on the back of his head, holding him there.

Before long, she was pulling him back up for another kiss, breaking it only momentarily to tug the sleeveless shirt from his chest. Running her hands over the scars on his own chest, he silenced her questions with another toe curling kiss, her hands fumbling with the clasp on his pants. Leaning back again, straddling her hips still, he reached down and, gently shoving her hands away, unclasped his pants and kicked them off, moving between her legs instead. Forgetting he was wearing boxers for the moment, he pressed himself against her, feeling how wet she was against the rather annoying fabric still keeping them separated. Deciding he'd packed enough underwear to last his life, he reached between them and tore the boxers open with his golden claws, finally relishing in the feeling of her flush skin against him. She looked up at him as if in fear for a moment before nodding and kissing him, holding him close to her as he sank himself deep inside her. She gasped against his lips as he slowly moved his hips against hers, her own hips moving to keep him inside her as long as possible before he sank himself into her again. Breaking the kiss, she bit his shoulder lightly to keep herself from screaming in pleasure as his movements inside her caused sensations she hadn't felt in long time to flutter in her belly. She new she couldn't get pregnant, not after so many blows to the stomach just to get her where she was now, but it was a relief to know she could still feel it.

Feeling her teeth against his shoulder, Artemis tightened his grip on her, holding her close to him as he pounded into her tight folds, filling her entirely with himself as her back arched. Her breasts were trapped between herself and his chest, her hands tangled in his hair, holding him to her as he filled her as best he could. The feeling was indescribable to him, as if she had been made specifically for him. Kissing her neck, he bit lightly, earning a slight gasp of pleasure from his partner as he left a mark that all but made her his. When she turned to look into his eyes, they didn't need words. They knew they were each close to their climax and that Music was sleeping in the next room. Not wanting to wake her, Wind claimed Artemis' lips again as he ground his hips into hers, her climax coming moments before his. His seed filling her made her gasp against his lips and smile into the kiss, holding him inside her with her legs hooked around his hips. As they felt the throws of their orgasms start to fade, Artemis rolled onto his side, using his magic to summon a blanket from the closet to cover them, wrapping them tightly in it as she snuggled close to him, resting her head on his chest. "So... where exactly did that come from...?" she asked and he chuckled a little.

"I... honestly don't know... but it wasn't..."

"Wrong... it felt... so right. I just don't know why and don't really care." He smiled as he pressed a kiss into her hair, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and holding her close as he started to drift off to sleep.

* * *

 **So... yeah. That happened. And before ya'll get snippy at me... I can see it now... "Why'd you have them fuck already? Shouldn't they have a few dates first?"... my story, my rules. Anyway, I do have a reason. You don't get to know what it is just yet, but for all ya'll who watch the show and know the color of Scootaloo's eyes, I think you'll probably figure it out. It's not gonna be revealed next chapter or anything that soon, but ya'll'll find out.**

 **Level up: Level 3, Charisma, Endurance, Strength increased.**

 **Perk Received: Raider Hero. Saved the leader of a group of raiders, now the entirety of her group will leave you alone in your travels. Congrats, hero.**

 **Perk Received: Lady Killer. Found a girl you like, "killed" her with your "spear". These puns are awful...**


End file.
